Right to take prescription from whichever Dr I choose, even if outside of US. Or to purchase my medicines from whichever pharmacy in the world.
Or the right to negotiate the cost of my services, even if paid by the insurance, to keep my premiums low. And to make Dr's directly responsible for the services they offer knowing that they are paid by their customer and not a 3rd party (insurance).
How is it that a country that has made weed and fentanyl so easily accessible in open market, suddenly start caring about peoples health if they end up taking wrong prescription?
By making healthcare a closed market, by making the service provider (Dr) not responsible for their services and its cost, and not allowing people to own their own health and health related decisions, it has created a vicious cycle of making it more expensive and inaccessible to many.
Working as an administrator at a nonprofit Rural Health Clinic, I completely agree with you. It baffles me how many people think they should receive free care. Though we do try and assist those less fortunate, it is through donations from others. It is not feasible or wise for the government to be in charge of my health.
I am not one to defend the fiscal discipline of our dear leaders. If anything - I think we are wasting serious money on programs with negative ROI. Basic healthcare, I would argue though, isn't one of them (famous last words :).
You have said you live in Massachusetts - I think there is a lot the US can learn from MA.
I'd be more of a proponent for socialized healthcare in the US except almost all drug and major medical research happens in the US since companies can make a profit here. Those drugs and treatments then benefit all of humanity.
Almost no medical research is done for instance in the UK, since there is no profit to be made through the NHS. If we switched to a UK/Canada style system in the US, it would basically end medical research as we know it.
I actually love this take. I have argued many times with friends who live in Europe and look down their nose at the disfunctions in the US healthcare system, making the point that the US healthcare system and by extension US consumers are subsidizing most medical inovation in the world. Predictably - those arguments are met with incredulity or even a smirk. From that perspective - I would love to see the US take a tougher stance when it comes to protecting the interest of it's own citizens and force drug companies to spread the funding burden a lot more evenly around the globe.
I'm glad you agree. I'd love to see the US force drug companies to increase prices overseas for instance by allowing re-importation.
I don't pay any attention to those snobs. Their wait times for major medical treatments are awful. Life expectancy for surviving a major diagnosis like cancer or heart disease is far better in the US than anywhere in the world. If you remove car accidents and issues related to obesity, the US's life expectancy is 2 years longer than any other country.
We have a massive, thriving medical tourism industry because when it comes to quality and outcomes, the US is far and away #1. Cost is the only issue.
Don't believe almost any negative statistics you see. Child morbidity rates in Europe are measured differently than in the US and not accurately. I could go on and on. We have great healthcare. It's just stupidly wasteful and expensive.
We are a rich enough society where some level of minimal healthcare should be provided. Similar to basic education.
It may be limited to certain basic services (and medicine should be exluded, though the government should be able to negotiate). However the current model is absolutely broken.
I disagree somewhat. I agree that doctors and healthcare providers must be compensated for their services (I was one and burned out several times). But, I do think that society should provide a mechanism to provide for the health of its members.
"Except there is no such thing obviously. Someone is paying. What they really mean is the government should pay for healthcare and that really means everyone else in society through taxes."
Just like you say. Who is paying ? The government is paying for it through taxes that they collect from their citizens or through money that they create out of thin air by borrowing it or through their central bank. Insurance companies are paying for it. Some people pay for it out-of-pocket, and some people do not pay for it. The delivery system is part of the problem.
It isn't free no matter what. The role of the government could or should be to ensure that the public good (i.e. healthcare) is delivered and distributed equitably and efficiently to the members of society.
You make great points except they all prove exactly my point: healthcare is not a right nor can it be. It can be something provided by government, and frequently is, but that doesn't make it a right since it inherently is different from other rights.
If the US wants full government healthcare, let it be passed.
And if healthcare was a right, you would be forced to live that miserable right. You can't make a right that is required to be paid for. That's not a right; that's just a product like any other.
There are other rights at play here -
Right to take prescription from whichever Dr I choose, even if outside of US. Or to purchase my medicines from whichever pharmacy in the world.
Or the right to negotiate the cost of my services, even if paid by the insurance, to keep my premiums low. And to make Dr's directly responsible for the services they offer knowing that they are paid by their customer and not a 3rd party (insurance).
How is it that a country that has made weed and fentanyl so easily accessible in open market, suddenly start caring about peoples health if they end up taking wrong prescription?
By making healthcare a closed market, by making the service provider (Dr) not responsible for their services and its cost, and not allowing people to own their own health and health related decisions, it has created a vicious cycle of making it more expensive and inaccessible to many.
Working as an administrator at a nonprofit Rural Health Clinic, I completely agree with you. It baffles me how many people think they should receive free care. Though we do try and assist those less fortunate, it is through donations from others. It is not feasible or wise for the government to be in charge of my health.
I am not one to defend the fiscal discipline of our dear leaders. If anything - I think we are wasting serious money on programs with negative ROI. Basic healthcare, I would argue though, isn't one of them (famous last words :).
You have said you live in Massachusetts - I think there is a lot the US can learn from MA.
I'd be more of a proponent for socialized healthcare in the US except almost all drug and major medical research happens in the US since companies can make a profit here. Those drugs and treatments then benefit all of humanity.
Almost no medical research is done for instance in the UK, since there is no profit to be made through the NHS. If we switched to a UK/Canada style system in the US, it would basically end medical research as we know it.
I actually love this take. I have argued many times with friends who live in Europe and look down their nose at the disfunctions in the US healthcare system, making the point that the US healthcare system and by extension US consumers are subsidizing most medical inovation in the world. Predictably - those arguments are met with incredulity or even a smirk. From that perspective - I would love to see the US take a tougher stance when it comes to protecting the interest of it's own citizens and force drug companies to spread the funding burden a lot more evenly around the globe.
I'm glad you agree. I'd love to see the US force drug companies to increase prices overseas for instance by allowing re-importation.
I don't pay any attention to those snobs. Their wait times for major medical treatments are awful. Life expectancy for surviving a major diagnosis like cancer or heart disease is far better in the US than anywhere in the world. If you remove car accidents and issues related to obesity, the US's life expectancy is 2 years longer than any other country.
We have a massive, thriving medical tourism industry because when it comes to quality and outcomes, the US is far and away #1. Cost is the only issue.
Don't believe almost any negative statistics you see. Child morbidity rates in Europe are measured differently than in the US and not accurately. I could go on and on. We have great healthcare. It's just stupidly wasteful and expensive.
We are a rich enough society where some level of minimal healthcare should be provided. Similar to basic education.
It may be limited to certain basic services (and medicine should be exluded, though the government should be able to negotiate). However the current model is absolutely broken.
We're a rich enough society going further $1 trillion into debt every 100 days. So we are not wealthy at all; we are broke.
I disagree somewhat. I agree that doctors and healthcare providers must be compensated for their services (I was one and burned out several times). But, I do think that society should provide a mechanism to provide for the health of its members.
"Except there is no such thing obviously. Someone is paying. What they really mean is the government should pay for healthcare and that really means everyone else in society through taxes."
Just like you say. Who is paying ? The government is paying for it through taxes that they collect from their citizens or through money that they create out of thin air by borrowing it or through their central bank. Insurance companies are paying for it. Some people pay for it out-of-pocket, and some people do not pay for it. The delivery system is part of the problem.
It isn't free no matter what. The role of the government could or should be to ensure that the public good (i.e. healthcare) is delivered and distributed equitably and efficiently to the members of society.
It costs a lot of money to train a doctor (mostly in Western Counties): https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-37550759
I quit practice, or was forced to quit practice because I 'burned out' and probably would have died myself or killed myself because of the work -->
“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
I asked myself "Why should I live a miserable life while saving other people's lives" ?
Well, that is one reason why I went into medical practice in the first place, but I would be of no use to other people as a dead person.
You make great points except they all prove exactly my point: healthcare is not a right nor can it be. It can be something provided by government, and frequently is, but that doesn't make it a right since it inherently is different from other rights.
If the US wants full government healthcare, let it be passed.
And if healthcare was a right, you would be forced to live that miserable right. You can't make a right that is required to be paid for. That's not a right; that's just a product like any other.